More so than ever before, contact centres are operating in an ultra-competitive hiring landscape. In the labour market five years ago, there were nearly six unemployed individuals for every job vacancy. Now, there are less than two. At the same time, employment is at levels not seen since the early 1970’s, while UK unemployment is at a near-record low. Skilled candidates are in higher demand than ever, and contact centres need to compete if they want to secure the best.

Effective contact centre recruitment in a near zero-unemployment world is a real challenge. But it’s a challenge that can be overcome through a strategic, distinctive approach to attraction and retention. Let’s take a look at three things contact centres should be considering, in order to win the war for talent.

Importance of Micromoments

Whether we like it or not, many of us are addicted to our mobile phone. The average Brit checks their phone 28 times a day, looking for quick, ready-to-consume bursts of information on the fly. We call these ‘micromoments’ – when a person reflexively turns to their mobile device to fulfil an immediate need. When recruiting, it’s important to effectively utilise these micromoments to tell your organisation’s story. These are the moments that will build a picture of what it would be like to work for your company. Using them effectively can later encourage candidates for apply for one of your roles.

Despite the existence and importance of micromoments, most contact centres continue to judge the effectiveness of recruitment campaigns based on the number of applications each advertising channel drove to a specific job vacancy. They only look at the final part of the journey – the last place the jobseeker visited before applying for the job. Interpreting data in this way means they don’t recognise the value of all those micromoments that led up to the application being made. Organisations require a new approach to data analysis, which considers the entire user journey.

Authentic Employer Brands

We all know how important it is to have a compelling employer brand. However it’s equally important that it’s authentic too. The internet has made organisations more transparent than ever before. Employer review websites like Glassdoor often directly ask users about their employer’s weaknesses, as well as strengths. Added to this, social media is often the first place people turn to, when they feel they have experienced a wrongdoing. All of this means that many contact centres struggle with managing negativity online.

When responding to negative comments, employers shouldn’t overreach and try to make their contact centre seem perfect. This can appear disingenuous to today’s candidates. Instead of squelching imperfections, use these occasions as an opportunity to engage and diffuse. Most people recognise that workplaces are far from perfect; but managing grievances in a positive way can be invaluable to your employer brand.

‘Ongoing Attraction’ Mindsets

These days, the recruitment process doesn’t end with someone starting a new job. In today’s competitive jobs market, contact centres need to continually work to keep their workers engaged and happy in their role. We call this ‘ongoing attraction’.

What your employees’ need and want will change over time. So your approach to managing new starters cannot necessarily be the same as your approach for time-served workers. You need to continually reassess what they expect from you as an employer, and align your approach accordingly. Fail to do this, and they will start to look elsewhere.

With an ‘ongoing attraction’ mindset, contact centre will be better able to retain workers. It will also support external attraction activities too. Our research found that prospective employees consider existing employees to be the most credible source of information about what it’s like to work at a given organisation. Keep your existing workers happy, and they will be advocates for new hires, too.

We must also remember that one size does not fit all. Different skill requirements will need different approaches, and employers should consider the wider context of their organisation when developing their recruitment strategy. Nonetheless, an integrated, omni-channel, data-orientated approach ensures organisations engage the right individuals at the right time, with the right message.

That’s where Manpower can help. With a data-led approach, we communicate with candidate audiences in new, exciting ways that simply weren’t possible before. Working directly with the contact centre or via BPOs, we also help organisations think differently about retention with an ‘ongoing attraction’ approach which elevates their brand through a distinctive and meaningful communications.

Andrew Derrick is Manpower’s Head of Market for Call Centres, as is responsible for developing and delivering tailored workforce solutions to meet the rapidly changing demands of the call centre sector. He has worked for the ManpowerGroup for almost four years, and has over 15 years’ experience within the Corporate Banking Market and professional services sector and more than 10 years of recruitment expertise. He understands that potential customers need access to meaningful intelligence that can shape a bespoke service offering. Meeting with potential customers to discuss the contact centre workforce challenges allows him to build innovative and efficient solutions which enable workforce optimisation.